More for the Garba Raas than the #Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela

More for the Garba Raas than the #Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela

(Pic Courtesy IMDb)

When you have the tastiest ingredients and use the best utensils to cook a dish, yet the resultant dish may not taste as good, that really is the case with Ramleela. What perhaps is missing is the knowledge that all ingredients have to complement each other, the story of Romeo and Juliet juxtaposed in to Indian folk really didn’t work for the audience in me.  Would I, however recommend you go watch the movie?  YES! And why is that? Number One reason- Deepika Padukone, this is perhaps her best performance ever, not just as an actress but also as an incredible dancer this time. Being a folk dancer myself , I can tell for a fact I haven’t seen choreography executed this perfect, every move of Deepika you see the nuances of a Rabari garba dancer .  Number Two, you have to watch this movie for the detailing, not just in the sets and costumes but also the amazing cinematography. This movie could have easily been a beautiful broadway production

What am I complaining about the movie then? maybe it was the cultural translation that didn’t happen at a more “believable” level .  For instance, an orthodox friend of mine went a bit too far and said well "this was like watching folk porn" the love chemistry between the characters came across too sexual for the Indian taste I guess. Well, I would moderate that a bit and say that one would have wished that emotional connection between lovers was showcased and highlighted at the start of the love story. It just came across as if animal attraction between two born flirts,  suddenly deepens and becomes emotional to a point that you go – are the protagonist’s characters both suffering from a bipolar disorder? Hence, the transition there wasn’t smooth. As for me, I am going to watch the movie again, for Deepika and the Garba moves for sure!

#MickeyVirus Attacks....and my system goes down down down!

(Image Source: IMDb)

Alike many who couldn’t have waited to watch Manish Paul on the big screen, personally I am just disappointed.  Agreed movies are not always intended to portray reality but this plot is unbelievable and faulty to a point where I couldn’t even forge a connection to anything running on the screen, be it  a moment of thrill, comedy, love, remorse or suspense, all basically falling flat. I think Indian directors cannot sometimes do justice to highly technical subject matters, such as hacking crimes. On one end the director is trying really hard to make hacking look like it was a video game, hoping that every single person in the audience can relate to it – the uneducated, the grandfathers, the kids, the housewives as well as the young, techy, educated folks, etc.. However, this is an impossible task to achieve and maybe sometimes it is best to keep a movie targeted and honest to its subject.  By the way what shocked me most was that I saw kids(under 5) in the theatre. How did this movie not have an “A” rating? I thought a lot of the raunchy humor and the “so called romantic scenes” were sleazy. A movie totally overdone, there were several moments in the movie where I went like am I supposed to laugh at this? For instance, all hackers in the movie wear Tshirts  that have some smart-ass/ supposedly funny statement on it. The only thrill about the movie is that if you have managed to watch it till the interval, congratulations! You can tell others that you survived it.

There was once a movie called “Jaane Bhi Do Yaroon” which was also a comic thriller, years have passed since then but nothing compares yet and I would highly recommend you go watch that than waste your time on a movie that only wants to mess with your head in the name of being a thriller or a desperate attempt to be comical.  


Also Read my other recent blog posts
http://rachnagreviews.blogspot.in/2013/10/the-lunch-box-made-me-more-than-just.html
http://rachnagreviews.blogspot.in/2013/09/safety-not-guaranteedgenrecomedy.html



The #Lunch box made me more than just hungry!

                                                                                                                        Pic: IMDB

A story that touches your heart gently and re-kindles your soul.

Built on the background of a hustle- bustle of the city of Mumbai and the ever- efficient Dabawalas, the movie connects the life of  a middle class house wife (Nimrat Kaur) and a widowed, stern insurance claims clerk  who is up for retirement (Irfan Khan).  I always believed that Irfan Khan can easily outweigh performances of other actors, but I must say in this movie Nimrat Kaur has been equally good. The strong supporting cast with Nawazuddin Siddiqui,  Lillete Dubey,  and the not so forgettable supporting acting voice of Bharati Achrekar have made this movie an absolute pleasure to watch.

The movie is an exchange of beautiful letters between two strangers through the medium of a lunch box, I must admit that I was way too eager an audience to hear the voiceover of every letter and the story it told and may be even more excited to see the home cooked gourmet inside the lunch box itself :P

The clear message of the movie is that If you are ever caught in life situations and accept what comes your way, assuming that it is your destiny.. be it unrequited love, loneliness, old age, poverty, infidelity ,etc. you are in for a surprise, as the soul always knows it’s way out and the universe will work magically to get you there…perhaps to a place like Bhutan where the National Happiness Quotient is the highest in the world ;)..

Safety Not Guaranteed(Genre:Comedy/ Drama/Romance) A movie that got me thinking !!!

(Pic Courtesy IMDb)

I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing parallels that were drawn in to an 80 minute movie. This movie has extremely well written dialogues and brilliant character sketching. The plot that starts with female protagonist Darius (Aubrey Christina Plaza), a recluse intern at a magazine publishing who accompanies her boss Jeff (Jake Johnson) and fellow intern Arnau(Karan Soni)  to Ocean View Washington in a mission to cover the story of a man, Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass) who had placed an add in the classifieds inviting a partner to join him on a journey back in time on a time machine of which safety is not guaranteed. What begins as the hilarious quest for a psychopath/ criminal story turns out as a quest for love and trust. Beyond, the comical plot are the overarching questions – can one travel on a time machine?why does one want to go back in time? why do you need a partner to travel back in time?

Focusing on the primary plot,  Darius, wins the trust of Kenneth and trains to be his partner, as it turns out she starts believing in his mission, the more she gets to know him and falls for him. Her rational mind is shut until a change in events and she begins to lose confidence in Kenneth. In the climax, it turns out she is in for a surprise when she discovers that the mission was indeed real and joins Kenneth in a Journey back in time.

Here is when the audience in me is drawing parallels to real life , each one wants to go back in time, to resolve regrets/correct the mistakes made, the time machine in itself is symbolic of a dream, a desire or a whim, and why do we need a partner?  when having a partner actually means having to make compromises and sacrifices. The Male protagonist answers this in the last few lines in the movie “I need someone when I'm doubting myself and I'm insecure and My heart fails me? do I need someone, who when the heat gets hot, has my back- I do!”. Safety is Not Guaranteed when you wade through time and space and nor is it in relationships, but things will sure work if you have a partner who believes in your time machine and has your back J